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Seth Meyers, Meghan McCain Spar Over Omar

[additional-authors]
May 8, 2019
Meghan McCain On Friday, June 29, 2018, the LBJ Foundation honored U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, with its most prestigious recognition, the LBJ Liberty & Justice For All Award. Sen. McCain’s daughter, Meghan McCain, accepted the award on his behalf. Following the award presentation, Mark K. Updegrove, president and CEO of the LBJ Foundation, moderated a conversation with Meghan McCain and Rick Davis, who served as the national campaign manager for Sen. McCainÕs 2000 and 2008 presidential campaigns. LBJ Library photo by Jay Godwin 06/29/2018

Late-night talk show host Seth Meyers and ABC’s “The View” co-host Meghan McCain engaged in a lively debate over Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) during NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers” May 7.

Meyers pointed out to McCain that she had criticized Omar’s tweets as being anti-Semitic after the recent Chabad of Poway shooting, prompting Meyers to ask McCain if she needed to be more careful with her language given that Omar is facing death threats. McCain replied that she wasn’t trying to say Omar was responsible for the shooting, she was expressing concern that Omar is turning the Democratic Party into Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party.

“I stand by every single thing I’ve said and if that makes me unpopular in this room or in front of you, then so be it,” McCain said. Meyers called her response “weird” because he wanted to find “common ground” on the matter.

McCain then asked Meyers if Omar referring to the 9/11 terror attacks as “some people did something” bothered him; Meyers replied that Omar’s remarks were “taken out of context.”

Meyers later asked McCain if it’s possible to criticize the Israeli government without being accused of anti-Semitism. McCain answered in the affirmative, but argued Omar’s tweets about Israel hypnotizing the world and that “it’s all about the Benjamins” crossed the line into anti-Semitism.

“You do keep bringing up the two tweets she’s apologized for, and I think that’s a little unfair to her,” Meyers said. McCain retorted, “Are you her publicist? Are you her press person?” Meyers replied that he just thought that people should be “more careful with their language,” especially when discussing someone like Omar who is facing death threats.

“What would make you happy coming out of my mouth right now?” McCain asked. “I’m genuinely curious.” Meyers said he was “perfectly happy with everything that’s coming out of your mouth and I’m happy we spent this time together.”

The full discussion can be seen below:

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